The Judgment of Persephone


Giulia Calligola - 2021
    Mortals don't worship her, Gods don't invite her to their mundane events, and all in all it would be fine for her. Or at least that is what she thinks.Everything changes when at a conference she meets Hades, God of the dead and old-fashioned gentleman. He too has a heavy burden: three hundred thousand years of age, seven feet tall, at least twenty titles on his name. But he's also the only one who understands Persephone's passion for law subjects, as well as the only one who seems uncomfortable among the other deities as much as her. How couldn't they get along?They find themselves intertwining their destinies and working together to issue a controversial judgment, collaborating in a trial of souls in the court of the Underworld. And so, halfway between irony and seriousness, fairness and rigor, life and death, this is the (semi) modern reinterpretation of a myth that has never stopped being told.

Shatter Me Series Box Set: Shatter Me, Unravel Me, Ignite Me


Tahereh Mafi - 2016
    Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight for herself—and for a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever.The Shatter Me series, which New York Times bestselling author Ransom Riggs called "a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love," is perfect for fans who crave action-packed novels like Veronica Roth’s Divergent, Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, and Marie Lu’s Legend.

Salinity Cove: The Complete Series


Maya Nicole - 2021
    

Crossings


Alex Landragin - 2020
    It has three narratives, each as unlikely as the next. And the narratives can be read one of two ways: either straight through or according to an alternate chapter sequence. The first story in Crossings is a never-before-seen ghost story by the poet Charles Baudelaire, penned for an illiterate girl. Next is a noir romance about an exiled man, modeled on Walter Benjamin, whose recurring nightmares are cured when he falls in love with a storyteller who draws him into a dangerous intrigue of rare manuscripts, police corruption, and literary societies. Finally, there are the fantastical memoirs of a woman-turned-monarch whose singular life has spanned seven generations. With each new chapter, the stunning connections between these seemingly disparate people grow clearer and more extraordinary. Crossings is an unforgettable adventure full of love, longing and empathy.

City


Alessandro Baricco - 1999
    Somewhere in America lives a brilliant boy named Gould, an intellectual guided missile aimed at the Nobel Prize. His only companions are an imaginary giant and an imaginary mute. Improbably—and yet with impeccable logic--he falls into the care of Shatzy Shell, a young woman whose life up till that point has been equally devoid of human connection . Theirs is a relationship of stories and of stories within stories: of Gould’s evolving saga of an underdog boxer and the violent Western that Shatzy has been dictating into a tape recorder since the age of six. Out of these stories, Alessandro Baricco creates a masterpiece of metaphysical pulp fiction that recalls both Scheherazade and Italo Calvino. By turns exhilarating and deeply moving, City is irresistible.

The Tartar Steppe


Dino Buzzati - 1940
    It tells of young Giovanni Drogo, who is posted to a distant fort overlooking the vast Tartar steppe. Although not intending to stay, Giovanni suddenly finds that years have passed, as, almost without his noticing, he has come to share the others' wait for a foreign invasion that never happens. Over time the fort is downgraded and Giovanni's ambitions fade until the day the enemy begins massing on the desolate steppe...

The Fairies' Path


Ava Corrigan - 2021
    It is a retelling of the first season packed with bonus scenes and character backstory not seen on the show.At the Alfea International School, students come from all over the Otherworld to train. To learn magic. To discover how to control their powers. Inside the school's castle, five students-complete strangers-are assigned as roommates:Aisha is an athlete and a classic overachiever whose control over water is the envy of her fellow students.Terra is an awkward do-gooder whose power over the natural world can overwhelm rivals unexpectedly.Musa is an introvert who keeps to herself so her mind isn't overwhelmed by the emotions of those around her.Stella is a princess - yes, a real princess - whose command over light inspires but also intimidates.And then there's Bloom, the outsider, the girl from the human world whose power over fire almost destroyed her family.These five teenagers want what every teenager wants... to figure out who they are. To make friends. To fit in at their new school. But when an ancient, long-vanquished evil suddenly resurfaces outside the castle walls, these five teenagers be forced to put their powers to the test. And they'll discover a secret so powerful, it will challenge everything they know about the Otherworld... and themselves.

Stand By Me


S.D. Robertson - 2018
    Popular, bright and sporty, Lisa was Elliot’s biggest supporter when the school bullies made his life a misery, and for that, he will always be grateful.Twenty years later, life has pulled the pair apart and Lisa is struggling. Her marriage is floundering, her teenage kids are being secretive, and she’s so tired she can’t think straight. So when Elliot knocks on the door, looking much better than she remembers, she can’t help but be delighted to see her old friend again.With Elliot back in their lives, Lisa’s family problems begin to improve – he’s like the fairy godmother she never had. As their bond deepens, she realises how much she’s missed him, and prays that this is one friendship that will last a lifetime. But sometimes, life has other ideas…A heartwarming story perfect for fans of Keith Stewart and Jojo Moyes, that will leave you with a tear in your eye but hope in your heart.

Difficult Loves


Italo Calvino - 1958
    “The quirkiness and grace of the writing, the originality of the imagination at work,...and a certain lovable nuttiness make this collection well worth reading” (Margaret Atwood). Translated by William Weaver, Peggy Wright, and Archibald Colquhoun. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Margherita Dolce Vita


Stefano Benni - 2005
    This is his twelfth bestselling book of fiction. Fifteen-year-old Margherita lives with her eccentric family on the outskirts of town, a semi-urban wilderness peopled by gypsies, illegal immigrants, and no end of bizarre characters: a reassuring and fertile playground for an imaginative little girl like Margherita. But one day, a gigantic, black cube shows up next door. Her new neighbors have arrived, and they’re destined to ruin everything.

Storm and Silence


Robert Thier - 2016
    Not marriage, not a brood of squalling brats, and certainly not love, thank you very much!But freedom is a rare commodity in 19th-century London, where girls are expected to spend their lives sitting at home, fully occupied with looking pretty. Lilly is at her wits’ end—until a chance encounter with a dark, dangerous and powerful stranger changes her life forever...Enter the world of Mr Rikkard Ambrose, where the only rule is: Knowledge is power is time is money!

The Late Mattia Pascal


Luigi Pirandello - 1904
    Then, providentially, he discovers that he has been declared dead. Realizing he has a chance to start over, to do it right this time, he moves to a new city, adopts a new name, and a new course of life—only to find that this new existence is as insufferable as the old one. But when he returns to the world he left behind, it's too late: his job is gone, his wife has remarried. Mattia Pascal's fate is to live on as the ghost of the man he once was.An explorer of identity and its mysteries, a connoisseur of black humor, Nobel Prize winner Luigi Pirandello is among the most teasing and profound of modern masters. The Late Mattia Pascal, here rendered into English by the outstanding translator William Weaver, offers an irresistible introduction to this great writer's work

There's No Such Place As Far Away


Richard Bach - 1979
    Though deserts, storms, mountains, and a thousand miles separated them, Rae was confident that her friend would appear. "There's No Such Place As Far Away" chronicles the exhilarating spiritual journey that delivered Rae's anxiously awaited guest to her side on that special day--and tells of the powerful and enduring gift that would keep him forever close to her heart. Written with the same elegant simplicity that made "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" a bestselling phenomenon, "There's No Such Place As Far Away" has touched the hearts of thousands of readers since its first publication in 1979. Richard Bach's inspiring, now-classic tale is a profound reminder that miles cannot truly separate us from friends...that those we love are always with us--every moment of the infinite celebration we call life.

The Book of Legendary Lands


Umberto Eco - 2013
    From the epic poets of antiquity to contemporary writers of science fiction, from the authors of the Holy Scriptures to modern raconteurs of fairy tales, writers and storytellers through the ages have invented imaginary and mythical lands, projecting onto them all of our human dreams, ideals, and fears. In the tradition of his acclaimed History of Beauty, On Ugliness, and The Infinity of Lists, renowned writer and cultural critic Umberto Eco leads us on a beautifully illustrated journey through these lands of myth and invention, showing us their inhabitants, the passions that rule them, their heroes and antagonists, and, above all, the importance they hold for us. He explores this human urge to create such places, the utopias and dystopias where our imagination can confront things that are too incredible or challenging for our limited real world. Illuminated with more than 300 color images, The Book of Legendary Lands is both erudite and thoroughly enjoyable, bringing together disparate elements of our shared literary legacy in a way only Umberto Eco can. Homer’s poems and other ancient and medieval texts are presented side by side with Gulliver’s Travels and Alice in Wonderland; Tolkien shares space with Marco Polo’s Books of the Marvels of the World; films complement poems, and comics inform novels. Together, these stories have influenced the sensibilities and worldview of all of us.

A Court of Thorns and Roses Box Set


Sarah J. Maas - 2017
    When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin--one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world. As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin--and his world--forever. This box set of the #1 New York Times bestselling series contains hardcover editions of the first three books: A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Court of Mist and Fury, and A Court of Wings and Ruin.